Freeport City Council Regular Meeting Minutes - June 25, 2003

Staff persons on hand were Joel Dasher and Paul Hetland.

Approval of the Minutes

Humbert moved and Goebel seconded a motion approving the minutes for the May 28 and June 11, 2003 meetings. Discussion offered. Motion carried.

New City Hall Project

Results of the review process were presented to City Council from the EDA Meeting and bid opening. They were as follows:

A letter from Norm Cole, architect for the project, drafted a report for Council's review recommending Hennen Lumber Company to be the general contractor for the project. Humbert moved and Goebel seconded a motion approving the architect's recommendation. Worms and Hennen abstained. Motion carried.

Discussion followed on the donations for the project. The EDA had discussed at their recent meeting a breakdown for donations as they would be recognized, it was as followed: $1000 to $4999.99; $5000 to $9999.99; $10, 000 to $24999.99; and $25,000 and over. The EDA recommended and the Council agreed that no items within the new city hall should be marked as a donation from any person or entity and marked as such. Thelen noted that he would be drafting a donations letter and distributing it in the near future. There was a discussion on the flag pole and it was tabled by call of the chair for discussion at a future meeting.

3^rd Street NE

There was discussion on the width of the eastern side of the street. Measurements made of the road and it was mentioned that from inside to inside of the curb the distance was approximately 22' 10". The plans and specifications appeared to point to the inside of the curb as well. Staff would be bringing the matter to the attention of the engineer Pete Carlson. The Council and citizens present also discussed how to work with a narrower street. No formal action was taken, but those present agreed that the road would be closed off for the Sacred Heart Festival and no other restrictions would be enacted and a trial period would go in effect.

There were also a number of concerns and complaints brought forward about the services performed by Thull Excavating. Issues raised included the lack of tamping of the soil, damage to lawns and gardens, mud intrusion into two basements, lack of follow through on the removal of dirt and the point-of-entry of services, and lack of responsiveness to residential needs. A great amount of staff time has been and will be dedicated to resolving the issues herein described.

Public Works Report

Dasher provided Council with written and verbal reports. The water tower clean out was rescheduled due to a broken drain. The crew that was here the week prior was not prepared to do the repair of the drain. They did not have the equipment needed to reconnect the pipe to the tank. Because of risk of iron sediment falling on the buildings next door, dasher did not want to drain the tower without the drain connected. He also mentioned the concerns on gaining access for the clean out and Council gave a few suggestions on remedying the problem. Dasher will follow through on the suggestions and initiate a schedule to clean the tower and look into recommendations on future maintenance needs of the tower.

The ponds will be sprayed in the next week with either Middendorf or Dasher helping to reduce the cost. The ponds have been mowed two times to date.

Other maintenance items were noted. Chemical feed systems for iron removal for sprinkler systems is ready to go. Dust control applied to 7^th St NE. Weekly street sweeping has been manageable this year with the clean up in the spring.

City Clerk's Report

Hetland reported that the Fire Chief and the review committee are still analyzing the information and will report their recommendations at the next meeting which the Area Fire Service Account will be invited to attend in a joint meeting.

Hetland also reported on the League of Minnesota Cities Conference he had attended in the week prior. There were a number of items he shared with Staff and Council. He noted the incredible importance the maintenance of our waste water system as the most important physical asset the City owns. In addition, that measures ought to be taken in the year to prevent inflow and infiltration of storm water into the waste water system. Also reported were the activities of other communities regarding emergency management. Much discussion followed and Council requested that Hetland as Emergency Management Director to report at the upcoming meeting regarding the status of our plan and to investigate grants that may aid our community carry out needed tasks.

Humbert moved and Worms seconded a motion approving all claims as presented by staff, but to hold payment on the statement from the Minnesota Department of Economic Security due to a dispute regarding payment. Hetland offered and was instructed to investigate the statement.

Worms moved and Goebel seconded a motion to approve Payment Application #1 for 3^rd Street NE in the amount of 43,254.84 to Beitbach Construction, Inc. Discussion offered. Motion carried.

Discussion on the City's need to bond. Staff was requested to prepare financial information to be available and reviewed at the next council meeting.

Hetland requested attending the League of Minnesota Cities' Clerk Orientation August 26-28, 2003 in St. Paul. The Council encouraged the desire to attend. Thelen moved and Hennen seconded a motion to allow the City Clerk to attend the orientation. Discussion followed. Motion carried.

New Business

Discussion also was made regarding looking at other space in the City to meet the needs of the public works department.

Goebel moved and Hennen seconded a motion to adjourn the Council meeting at 10:00 P.M. Motion carried.